With the novel coronavirus continuing to run rampant, the Biden administration announced Thursday it will require COVID-19 vaccination for staffers working within all healthcare settings that accept Medicare and Medicaid.
The order pertains to all fee-for-service facilities, hospitals, outpatient providers and clinical labs. Government officials previously placed such restrictions on nursing homes but will now extend the mandate to every Medicare and Medicaid-certified provider facility.
“As the Delta variant strengthens, the Biden-Harris Administration is committed to doing everything we can to keep patients, and those who care for them, safe,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said Sept. 9. “There is no question that staff, across any healthcare setting, who remain unvaccinated pose both direct and indirect threats to patient safety and population health. Ensuring safety and access to all patients, regardless of their entry point into the healthcare system, is essential.”
Physician groups including the Society of Interventional Radiology and American Medical Association advocated in July for requiring vaccinations across all healthcare workers. Both did not have comment on the announcement late Thursday, pointing to their joint statement signed by about 60 medical specialty societies.
“We stand with the growing number of experts and institutions that support the requirement for universal vaccination of health workers,” the AMA and SIR said July 26.
The administration said it based the decision on the growing spread of COVID-19 in healthcare settings. Nursing homes with a staff vaccination rate of 75% or lower, for instance, experience higher rates of preventable infection.
CMS said it will work closely with certified facilities on these requirements and plans to issue an interim rule with a comment period in October. The feds urged healthcare providers to use “all available resources” to support employees who still require the shot.
“CMS expects certified Medicare and Medicaid facilities to act in the best interest of patients and staff by complying with new COVID-19 vaccination requirements,” the agency said Thursday. “Healthcare workers employed in these facilities who are not currently vaccinated are urged to begin the process immediately.”
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.